Philippines logs 9,296 new COVID-19 cases, India's tally reaches 12,095,855

HONG KONG, March 30 (Xinhua) -- The COVID-19 pandemic continues to spread in Asia-Pacific countries as the Philippines reported 9,296 new cases on Tuesday while India's tally reached 12,095,855.

The Philippines' Department of Health (DOH) reported 9,296 new confirmed cases of COVID-19, bringing the country's total tally to 741,181.

The COVID-19 related death toll rose to 13,191 after five more patients died from the coronavirus epidemic, the DOH said.

The Philippines reverted Metro Manila and its four adjacent provinces to the highest quarantine level on Monday following a sharp increase in COVID-19 cases this month. The seven-day lockdown ends on April 4.

India's COVID-19 tally rose to 12,095,855 as 56,211 new cases were reported from across the country, according to the latest figures released by the federal health ministry.

Besides, 271 more deaths were reported, taking the death toll to 162,114.

There are 540,720 active cases in the country, while 11,393,021 people have been discharged from hospitals after medical treatment.

There was an increase of 18,912 active cases during the previous 24 hours, out of which the maximum cases were reported from the southwestern state of Maharashtra.

Malaysia reported 1,133 new infections, the Health Ministry said, bringing the national total to 344,018.

Five more deaths have been reported, bringing the death toll to 1,265.

Another 1,148 patients have been released after recovery, bringing the total number of cured and discharged to 328,554 or 95.5 percent of all cases.

Cambodia confirmed 105 new cases, bringing the total number of infections in the country to 2,377, said a Ministry of Health (MoH) statement.

The Southeast Asian nation has officially registered a total of 2,377 confirmed cases since the start of the pandemic in January last year, with 11 deaths and 1,176 recoveries, the MoH said.

The country began an anti-COVID-19 inoculation drive on Feb. 10. As of Monday, more than 391,000 people in priority groups had been vaccinated against the virus, a government report showed.

The death toll of COVID-19 in Afghanistan has increased to 2,484 after eight patients lost their lives within the past 24 hours, the country's Ministry of Public Health reported.

The ministry also confirmed 70 new cases during the cited period, bringing the number of infected people across the country to 56,454 including 2,597 active cases, the ministry said in a statement.

Laboratories across Afghanistan have completed over 346,000 COVID-19 tests since the outbreak of the pandemic in February last year.

Thailand confirmed 48 new cases, according to a report of the Center for the COVID-19 Situation Administration (CCSA).

Thailand has so far confirmed a total of 28,821 cases, 25,742 of which were reported as domestic while 3,079 others were imported cases.

So far, 27,379 patients have fully recovered and been released from hospitals while 1,348 others are currently hospitalized and 94 fatalities have been reported.

Australia's Brisbane reported another eight locally acquired COVID-19 cases, bringing the total number of cases in this outbreak to 15.

The cases in the state of Queensland have more than doubled overnight as Greater Brisbane entered a snap three-day lockdown from Monday afternoon.

Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk told a press conference on Tuesday that six new local cases were linked to previously confirmed cases, while the other two were still under investigation.